A solution to cop layoffs

Philadelphia Inquirer/MCTAs several hundred Camden firefighters and police officers were laid off from their jobs last month, Camden police officer Raymond Rusi, right, who was laid off but is in uniform because he had to appear in court, watches with daughter Jaymilie Rusi, 11, as co-workers who've also lost their jobs file past to place their boots in a row.

You didn’t have to be a budget genius to see this coming: When the poor are concentrated in the cities, it creates high-crime areas. To keep that crime under control, more and more police are needed — complete with their top-shelf pensions and benefits. Eventually, those expensive officers were going to shatter the budgets of impoverished cities.

Well, it’s happened.

Newark helped close its budget gap by laying off 167 police officers. When Camden couldn’t get $2 million in union concessions, it released 163, then received federal money that will allow the rehiring of a handful. Meanwhile, Trenton has avoided police layoffs so far, but it’s begging for federal handouts while staring at a budget deficit estimated at $15 million to $20 million.

Firefighters are being pushed out the door, too.

Against that backdrop, empty-pocketed mayors from the three cities met with Gov. Chris Christie and state officials to map the future of urban public safety. Mayors, their state aid slashed, hope the economic turbulence finally provides the impetus for more cost-effective regional policing.

“This meeting is 20 to 30 years overdue,” Trenton Mayor Tony Mack said. He’s right. So officials had better not waste a good crisis.

By creating regional police forces, cities would be able to ditch their current contracts and hire the regional agency. Cops would receive reasonable salaries and benefits. Instead of dozens of police chiefs, there would be one. Other ranks would be whittled, too. The savings could be significant. Suburban towns, also under fiscal pressure, could enjoy the efficiencies.

It’s a viable option for cities on the brink of bankruptcy and lawlessness.

Law-enforcement regionalization is already a fact of life in New Jersey. Homicides, sex crimes and other serious offenses, crime-scene investigations and bomb squads often are handled by county forces.

More incentive: State Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) has proposed requiring municipalities to share services or suffer state aid cuts. Why should the state subsidize stubborn inefficiency?

Regionalization of police is the next logical step. Let’s not trip over it.